His name is Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan, and he is currently addressing an issue that is far more important than stopping the dreaded “Specter” from destroying one of our major metropolitan cities with a “laser” or getting Halle Berry out of a two-piece bikini (though I am not discounting in any way the import of the latter). In this instance, the issue to be addressed is not some fictional threat to the world, but rather, a threat that is all too real.

On his official website, Mr. Brosnan speaks to his joy upon learning that the NRDC (National Resource Defense Council) won the opening salvo in a court battle to stop the United States Navy from using mid-frequency sonar during training exercises off the southern California coast. This is an important victory because scientists believe that the sonar is damaging to whales and other marine life. Any action that would adversely affect the well being of these beautiful giants is not only wrong and immoral at its core, but damages the very ecosystem from which all life on this planet was spawned.

According to his post, “The court concluded it was a ‘near certainty’ that the use of deadly sonar in the upcoming exercises would cause harm to the environment, including to endangered and rare whales that live in southern California’s rich waters. The court also called the Navy’s proposed protections for whales ‘woefully inadequate and ineffectual.’ NRDC is demanding that the Navy take common-sense measures to protect the region’s blue whales, migrating gray whales and other marine mammals as it blasts thousands of square nautical miles of ocean with ear-splitting, mid-frequency sound. The court’s injunction is ‘preliminary,’ which means that this fight is far from over. Nevertheless, it is a stunning win for our oceans, and it supports our contention that whales should not have to die for military practice.”

President George W. Bush believes, “Oceans no longer protect us,” and though I think that that is nothing but more incessant neo-con rambling, it does not mean we are not morally obligated to protect them. If the cost of having a well-trained Navy is the destruction of our oceanic ecosystems, then it is a price we pay at the expense of our very humanity. I applaud Mr. Brosnan for using his celebrity to shine light on this important issue, and toast him with a martini that is… come on, you know it… shaken, not stirred.